Why China Will Never Rule the World, was written by an EFL teacher, Troy Parfitt. Since we share a profession (Mr. Parfitt has taught in both South Korea and for many more years in Taiwan), I was curious enough about this book even though I don’t lose much sleep at night wondering if China really is the world’s next big super power.

Turns out the book doesn’t answer that question to my satisfaction but I am going to recommend it anyway.

Why China Will Never Rule the World doesn’t answer the question well enough because the answer seems to be; ‘China’s culture is backward’. There are examples of cultural differences that seem ridiculous to westerners but no real logic explaining why a culture possessing these traits can’t become a world power.

But if you don’t care about the answer to the question ‘why won’t China rule the world?’ then the book failing to answer that question isn’t a big deal. I personally don’t care.

What I do care about is that the book is essentially a travel story. And it’s a detailed story (the book is over 400 pages) about a place I don’t plan on going (China obviously, and there’s a section on Taiwan). Even if you are planning a trip to China, the book might prove useful. There are only a handful of places the author recommends and some of the biggest tourist attractions are said to be quite bad. Then again, the author doesn’t seem to think New York City is that great a destination either. It’s only one opinion but at least it’s the opinion of someone who has been there.

But don’t buy it yet, as I plan to continue this blog entry with some details and examples. But we’re celebrating my wife’s birthday so no time to compose a long blog entry today.